The Forum > Article Comments > Did the events at Pinjarra WA in 1834 merit yet another official apology to Aboriginal people? > Comments
Did the events at Pinjarra WA in 1834 merit yet another official apology to Aboriginal people? : Comments
By Brendan O'Reilly, published 7/11/2025A modern Governor says sorry for an 1834 conflict under British administration. Is that accountability - or branding?
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H W Bunbury was stationed at the Swan River Colony just after the Battle of Pinjarra. He spent many months exploring the south west and was widely accepted as being a friend of Aboriginal people and worked with them on several of his expeditions. Here's what he wrote in one of his letters home in 1836, two years after the ‘massacre’:
“When he {Thomas Peel) settled at Mandurup, an officer & Detachment were sent for his protection, as the natives shewed themselves very hostile; they murdered not only several of his men but also several soldiers, & actually blockaded two or three of the latter who were left in the Barracks until a stronger Detachment was sent from Head Quarters to their relief. The natives speared Peels horses & cattle & and kept the settlement in constant dread & alarm until the Pinjarrup affair taught them our strength.”